


Pushing On

by Sumi



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Type: Survival Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:00:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25211296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sumi/pseuds/Sumi
Summary: “We should make camp,” Sereda said, breaking the silence that had fallen between them.Natia nodded. “Yes, Commander.”A feeling of exasperation came over Sereda with a heavy dose of amusement. “I swear on the Stone if you next refer to me as the Hero of Ferelden I will not share your bed for an entire week.”
Relationships: Female Aeducan/Female Brosca (Dragon Age)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 2
Collections: Multifandom Horror Exchange (2020)





	Pushing On

**Author's Note:**

  * For [inquisitor_tohru](https://archiveofourown.org/users/inquisitor_tohru/gifts).



The mission was a fool’s errand from the moment the plan began to formulate in her mind. At first it was nothing more than a vague thought, but Sereda was very persistent. If it seemed like there was even a small chance that this ridiculous plan could be successful, then she thought she owed it to the other wardens (and herself) to at least try.

However, that was then and this was now. Trapped in the deepest part of the Deep Roads where nothing but darkspawn lurked was certainly making Sereda rethink her idea. Beside her walked Natia who appeared to be tired, but determined in her resolve to see this through.

Natia had been born without a caste in Orzammar, which could be a death sentence for many. Yet, here she was. Sereda’s life had its share of difficulties, but in her opinion Natia had it much worse than she ever did. Natia would probably disagree.

“We should make camp,” Sereda said, breaking the silence that had fallen between them.

Natia smirked. “Yes, Commander.”

A feeling of exasperation came over Sereda with a heavy dose of amusement. “I swear on the Stone if you next refer to me as the Hero of Ferelden I will not share your bed for an entire week.”

Immediately Natia began to laugh. She stifled it with her hand, in case any darkspawn were nearby. It would be a first for them to respond to laughter, but stranger things had happened.

They settled in for the night with Sereda taking the first shift. Barkspawn slept beside her, lifting his head whenever he heard even the smallest noise. He was getting on the old side, but he was still tough as any Mabari in Ferelden.

During her shift, Sereda mused about her recent response to Leliana. She wished she could help her old friend with Corypheus and his band of red templars rampaging across Thedas. It was entirely bad timing. If only Corypheus had thought to attack at another time.

The first few days were uneventful in the dark roads. They fought their share of darkspawn, but nothing unusual. Sereda and Natia kept pushing through, going deeper and deeper. The search for a cure seemed like such a pointless endeavour in her darker moments. However, they hadn’t travelled all the way down here just to turn back.

Somewhere in the deep roads was a cure for the Calling. After finding out what happened to Fiona, Sereda knew there had to be one. It was just a matter of finding it.

About a year ago the calling started getting stronger. During the day Sereda was able to ignore the calling, but at night when she lay there, exhausted from the day's travel it was harder to resist. She knew Natia also heard it. They never spoke about it because it was one subject best avoided.

Still, for traveling so far into the Deep Roads everything seemed fine … until it wasn’t.

The attack came seemingly out of nowhere. At first, there was nothing but weak darkspawn. Then just after Natia fired an arrow into the last one, a Hurlock Emissary appeared. It was on them immediately, firing a wave of lightning followed by two bouts of it’s chain lightning.

Sereda attempted to throw herself out of the way, but wasn’t quick enough. It made contact with her left arm, nearly eliciting a scream of pain. She swallowed it, instead focusing on aiming one of her daggers, the tip covered with poison, at the creature's head.

The dagger connected, distracting the darkspawn enough for Natia to attack it with a flurry of arrows. Hurlock Emissaries were tough bastards and never went down easily. Eventually Sereda and Natia were able to kill it, but just as the hurlock perished, an entire new batch of weak darkspawn swarmed around them.

“Well, shit.” Sereda muttered, casting a worried glance over in Natia’s direction.

Natia swallowed. “I second that.”

Beside her, Barkspawn barked in agreement.

Under normal circumstances, they would finish off these guys with little to no effort, but the Emissary proved to be a difficult opponent. These darkspawn might get the better of them if only because they were injured.

Sereda didn’t let herself think of the ‘what if’s’ or the odds stacked against them. She focused on eliminating the threat and avoiding aggravating the wound on her left shoulder any further. Natia hovered closer than usual, probably worried about the injury. It was flattering, but also a terrible strategy. The more spread out they were, the easier it would be to take down their opponents.

She focused entirely on the enemies surrounding her, trying her best to keep her mind off Natia. Two darkspawn rushed at Sereda, one on each side. It was easy to cut them down with her daggers, but then a third one came out of nowhere. 

Sereda rolled out of the way, aggravating her injury. The creature was so close she settled for kicking it straight in the face. It shrieked, giving Sereda a chance to furiously stab it.

Once it was over Sereda fell to one knee, struggling to catch her breath. She felt Natia’s hand on her uninjured shoulder and resisted the urge to shrug it off. Natia only meant well.

“Sereda I know your hurt, but we have to find a place to lay low for a few hours to rest and more importantly so I can take a look at that wound ,” Natia said matter-of-factly.

Sereda let out a pained laugh. “I don’t doubt your ability to treat injuries, but what I wouldn’t give to have Wynne here.”

“You and me both.”

They eventually found a small, closed off area. It wasn’t perfect, but the protection wards provided by Morrigan months earlier would keep them safe for a little while at least. For the moment, it was the best they could do.

When she gave her the wards, Morrigan said “Do try not to get yourself killed, Warden. Tis a tragedy to lose two friends at once”. It was a typical response from the witch, but Sereda knew behind that wall, was an old friend who would be very hurt by their death.

Sereda stripped the top half of her body down to her breast band. A hiss escaped as Natia prodded gently at the wound.

“How long will it set us back?” Sereda asked

“Three days or so at the most,” Natia explained. “Provided your injury doesn’t become worse or we’re not ambushed.”

She flashed her a weak smile. “I’m glad you never sugarcoat things, Nat.”

Roughly an hour later, Sereda felt comfortable enough to give into exhaustion. Barkspawn sat with Natia, but anytime she stirred, he was right over by Sereda’s side, licking her face in worry. The next day Sereda felt a bit better. However, still not well enough to leave their temporary camp.

“We’re sitting ducks here,” Sereda muttered while Nat checked the wound for the upteempth time. “Nat, will you pay attention?”

Natia gave her a look. “I hear you, but you won’t be of help to anyone if that doesn’t heal properly.”

“That’s not the point.” Serada grumbled.

Natia ignored her, which only annoyed Serada even more. “I’ll take Barkspawn and do a quick sweep of the area,” Natia said as she stood up. “Keep the wards up.”

“Who's the Commander here, me or you?” Sereda asked, partly in amusement and frustration.

The response drew a smirk from Natia. “Don’t worry Warden Commander. I’m not trying to go after your job. I just want you to listen to me this one damn time.”

Sereda let out a heavy sigh. “Fine, just… come back. Preferably uninjured and all limbs intact.”  
Once Natia and Barkspawn were out of view, Sereda found herself literally counting the minutes until their return. So far the journey into the deep roads for a cure was proving to be more difficult than Sereda ever imagined. 

She would continue on because there was no choice. Sereda wasn’t long for this world. The calling was becoming stronger. This was Sereda’s last shot and she’d be damned if she wasn’t going to fight until her last breath; darkspawn be damned.


End file.
